LEESBURG, Virginia – June 30, 2016. Michael Dylan Kessel, 22, appeared before Judge Stephen E. Sincavage in Loudoun County Circuit Court for sentencing on one count of taking indecent liberties with children.

In early June 2015, law enforcement was contacted by a family who believed that their child may have had inappropriate contact with Kessel, a resident inside an in-home daycare in Sterling, Virginia.

Investigation by Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office in conjunction with Loudoun Child Protective Services determined that Kessel was not the primary caregiver at daycare. Kessel’s mother ran the daycare, but Kessel did occasionally oversee the children during the course of the day. Sheriff’s Detectives arranged for a controlled phone call between the victim’s mother and Kessel. During the hour long call Kessel admitted to inappropriately touching the victim, saying “I’m extremely sorry,” and asking the victim’s mother if she was going to take the matter to the police because he was “worried about himself.”

Kessel was removed from the home through a safety plan from Loudoun Child Protective Services.

A search warrant was subsequently executed at Kessel’s residence where law enforcement seized a number of electronic devices containing images of children sleeping in the same bed as Kessel, along with various web searches related to child pornography.

Kessel pleaded guilty to the charge on March 14, 2016.

Prior to imposing a sentence, Sincavage noted that the Court believed the Virginia Sentencing Guidelines for this offense were “woefully inadequate,” and the Court would deviate upwards from the guidelines. Sincavage imposed an active sentence of five years in the Virginia Department of Corrections.

Kessel received an additional five years of suspended time and was ordered to pay $1,150 in restitution to the victim’s family. Upon his release, Kessel will be placed on ten years supervised probation, he is prohibited from any contact with the victim, any unsupervised contact with minors, and must successfully complete a sex offender treatment program.

Pursuant to Virginia’s Sex Offender and Crimes Against Minors Registry Act, Kessel will also be required to register as a sex offender. Information about the Virginia’s Sex Offender and Crimes Against Minors Registry and those on it can be found on the Virginia State Police website: http://sex-offender.vsp.virginia.gov.

Prior to Kessel’s arrest, he fled to Florida and had to be extradited back to Loudoun County. Sincavage ordered that Kessel repay over $2,000 in extradition costs to the Commonwealth of Virginia.